Trump Ruins Labor Day for Civilian Federal Employees

While Americans fire up the backyard grills, take their last dive into the neighborhood pool for the season, pack up the beach chairs one last time and get the kids' backpacks stocked for the new school year, our traditional celebration of our nation's workforce and our ability to reach for and live the American Dream is once again celebrated on this Labor Day.

Donald Trump can't stand that. In a cruel swipe at a significant segment of our working population, Trump announced he was spending Labor Day considering freezing the pay for 2 million federal employees, claiming we simply can't afford it. This, as taxpayers open their pockets to pay for yet another Trump trip to a Trump golf resort, where some of the money profits him, while he "studies" the pay freeze from the golf course. This, from a president who works approximately four days a week and rarely has a schedule before 11 a.m. This, from a president we are told won't bother to take the time to read or receive proper national security briefings, a critical part of his job.

The 2.1% scheduled pay raise for civilian federal employees for 2019 is being scrapped by Trump as a means to save federal dollars, despite the cost of his recent tax cut for the wealthy. He cites a federal code that allows him to take such measures in the event of “national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare," yet fails to specify the national emergency or how freezing federal pay will solve the mysterious national emergency. The move also imperils some GOP Member of Congress in their midterm re-election bids, where many of their constituents are federal employees who will suffer from this latest Trump maneuver.